MUMBAI: Mobile payments system is likely to become a popular mode of fund transfer in the coming months as banks have issued nearly 8.5 million Mobile Money Identifier (MMID) to customers.
A P Hota, managing director and chief executive officer, National Payment Corporation of India (NPCI) said, "Eighteen major banks who have already joined our Interbank Mobile Payment Service (IMPS) have started issuing MMID to the registered mobile banking customers."
The MMID, in combination with the mobile number acts as a proxy for the account number. He said, "Many customers who would like to receive money electronically and have hesitation in revealing their bank branch and account number, would have a solution. They can now share their mobile number and MMID with the remitter without the fear of providing personal banking details."
MMID is a 7-digit number and in combination with the mobile number, it would uniquely point to a account number in a bank. Hota explained, "A person having multiple bank accounts would have multiple MMIDs tagged with the same mobile number. Based on the purpose, customers with multiple accounts can share his/her MMID with the remitter."
As on April 24, 2011, banks have issued 8.5 million MMIDs. Hota said. "Considering that the commercial and co-operative banks have about 350 Million bank accounts, there is a lot of ground to cover. W are hopeful that given the utility of the new payment service, usage of IMPS would gain momentum in the coming months."
IMPS operates on a 24x7 basis and money transfer is instantaneous. Both, the remitter and the beneficiary, receive SMS from their respective banks immediately after the transaction. A bank customer needs to register as a mobile banking customer to avail of the benefit as a beneficiary. For remitting money, the customer would have to one-time download the software on the mobile and activate the same. The number of users is growing by about 10,000 each day.
A P Hota, managing director and chief executive officer, National Payment Corporation of India (NPCI) said, "Eighteen major banks who have already joined our Interbank Mobile Payment Service (IMPS) have started issuing MMID to the registered mobile banking customers."
The MMID, in combination with the mobile number acts as a proxy for the account number. He said, "Many customers who would like to receive money electronically and have hesitation in revealing their bank branch and account number, would have a solution. They can now share their mobile number and MMID with the remitter without the fear of providing personal banking details."
MMID is a 7-digit number and in combination with the mobile number, it would uniquely point to a account number in a bank. Hota explained, "A person having multiple bank accounts would have multiple MMIDs tagged with the same mobile number. Based on the purpose, customers with multiple accounts can share his/her MMID with the remitter."
As on April 24, 2011, banks have issued 8.5 million MMIDs. Hota said. "Considering that the commercial and co-operative banks have about 350 Million bank accounts, there is a lot of ground to cover. W are hopeful that given the utility of the new payment service, usage of IMPS would gain momentum in the coming months."
IMPS operates on a 24x7 basis and money transfer is instantaneous. Both, the remitter and the beneficiary, receive SMS from their respective banks immediately after the transaction. A bank customer needs to register as a mobile banking customer to avail of the benefit as a beneficiary. For remitting money, the customer would have to one-time download the software on the mobile and activate the same. The number of users is growing by about 10,000 each day.
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